Gluten Free Carrot Cake Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting
These easy and healthy baked carrot cake donuts are topped with a quick cream cheese frosting! This recipe is perfect for dessert or an easy sweet snack! Made with a mix of almond flour and coconut flour, and a dairy free cream cheese, they’re dairy free and gluten free too!
Hi guys! Sharing another guest post today while I'm in Japan, and this one's from the lovely Julie Harrington, a chef, dietitian and food blogger! She's another dietitian I met at Blog Brulee, and I'm really excited to be working with her all next year as my assistant/incoming newsletter editor for the Nutrition Entrepreneurs Dietetics Practice Group.
Hi everyone! It’s Chef Julie here! As Rachael is traveling, she has let me pop over here to share one of my new recipes – these dairy free and gluten free donuts with a cream cheese frosting!
Growing up I never really enjoyed donuts. Any time they would be brought to a social gathering or staring at me all lined up nice and neat when I stopped for a morning cup of coffee, it was always easy to pass. No particular reason, I just never really enjoyed them.
So the donut hater is now making donuts? Well, let me tell you about these particular donuts. Not going to lie, pretty much the only thing “donut” about them is the shape. I was testing a batch of carrot cake muffins and they didn’t rise enough creating that perfect golden muffin top I was looking for. Instead of wasting the extra batter, I piped them into a donut pan. Voila! Carrot cake donuts!
To be fair, these carrot cake donuts are more of a muffnut/duffin (I don’t think these names will catch on) – just simply a cakey donut. These are the kind of donuts I do enjoy!
Carrot cake donuts are not complete without a dairy free cream cheese frosting. They are perfect as is, but also get creative a pair with other foods. I crumbled a donut on a 4% vanilla Siggi’s – SO GOOD!
How to Make Carrot Cake Donuts Gluten Free
These carrot cake donuts are made with a mix of almond flour and coconut flour. Coconut flour requires a ton of liquid in baking, otherwise the finished product turns out really dry. But when you get the liquid to dry measurement right, coconut flour yields a soft and tender product. Almond flour is the other gluten free flour I use in this carrot cake donuts recipe. It adds texture and a bit of nutty flavor.
How to Make Carrot Cake Donuts Dairy Free
To make the topping for these carrot cake donuts, I used Kite Hill dairy free cream cheese, which is my favorite brand of dairy free cream cheese. If you eat dairy though, feel free to use regular cream cheese instead!
What is your favorite donut flavor?
Carrot Cake Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 8 donuts
Ingredients:
Donuts:
1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted, and cooled
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup carrots, grated
1/3 cup walnut, finely chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces non-dairy cream cheese (I used Kite Hill)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or plain), plus more if needed
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray donut pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients (almond flour through nutmeg). Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Then gently fold in grated carrots and walnuts.
Place batter into a large ziplock bag (or piping bag). Trim off one of the corners and pipe batter into the donut tins.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let donuts cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to let the donuts cool completely. (Don’t frost until completely cool or frosting will slide right off!)
For the cream cheese frosting: Using an electric mixer, mix frosting ingredients until thoroughly combined. If too thick add more almond milk, until you reach desired consistency.
Spread frosting evenly over donuts.
If you like these carrot cake donuts, you might also like:
Breakfast Strawberry Shortcakes
Flourless Peanut Butter Loaf
Strawberry Spiral Rolls with Lemon-Yogurt Frosting